Guitar



(No Model.)

L. F. 8: D. P. BOYD.

GUITAR.

No. 539,789. Patented May 28, 1895.

is no. moYo-u'mo. summon, 0. cv

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEE F. BOYD AND DAVID P. BOYD, OF MARION, INDIANA.

GUITAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 539,789, dated May 28,1895.

Application filed March 5, 1895. Serial No. (NO model- To all whom itmay concern.-

Be it known that we, LEE F. BOYD and DAVID P. BOYD, citizens of theUnited States, residing at Marion, in the county of Grant and State ofIndiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guitars,of which the following is a specification.

The object of our said invention is to provide in the construction ofguitars a means wherebythe force exerted on the strings shall hold allthe bars to which said strings are connected forcibly against thesounding board; and also to provide means whereby strings can beinserted in place conveniently and without the removal of any parts. Aguitar provided with attachments embodying our' said invention will befirst fully described, and the novel features thereof then pointed outin the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof andon which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1is a perspective View of a guitar provided with attachments embodyingour invention; Fig. 2, a detail sectional view; Fig. 3, a perspectiveview of an under bar separately of the form shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4, aperspective view of one of the curved tubes adapted to be insertedtherein; Fig. 5, a detail sectional view similar to Fig. 2, but showinga cheaper construction; Fig. 6, a perspective view of the bottom part ofthe construction shown in Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 a detail perspective viewofthe upper portion or crossbar adapted to be laid into the recess shownin Fig.

In said drawings the portions marked A represent the sounding board ofthe guitar; B, the bar to which the strings are attached; 0, an underbar or a bar below the sounding board; D, the bridge, and E the strings.

The guitar shown is or may be of an ordinary and well known form,including the sounding-board A, bridge D and strings E, and will not,therefore, be further described herein, except incidentally indescribing the invention.

The bar 13 maybe a separate bar, as shown, or may be formed in piecewith the'bridge D. It contains perforations for the strings, andpreferably a groove, as shown, to receive and cover the knots e on thestrings.

The bar 0 is located on the under side of the sounding-board A, and hascurved trans- Verse slots therein through which the strings pass inbeing inserted, and where the rear portions thereof, next to the extremeends which are attached to the bar B remain, so long as the strings arein position. The simplest and cheapest form of this construction isillustrated in Fig. 5, where the curved grooves are cut into the face ofthe bar, and then a second bar 0 let into a recess therein, crossingsaid grooves, and partly filling them, leaving a curved perforationbetween the two parts. A better form is shown in Fig. 2, where curvedtubes 0 are let into the curved grooves which have been formed asbefore, and the remainder of the grooves then filled, either by a stripas before, or by a suitable strong composition, as glue and sawdust,which holds said curved tubes firmly in place. The principal reason whywe prefer to use these tubes, rather than the bare wood, is that itstands the wear of inserting the wires or strings better.

The method of placing the wires or strings in position, after the stripsor bars are formed and secured in place, is to insert said stringsthrough orifices in the bar B and pass them down through the curvedtransverse grooves or holes in the bar 0, and thence up through and overthe top of the bridge D, and thence out to the keys, by which they aretightened. As will be readily seen, the pull of the strings against allof the bars is in such a direction as to tend to hold said bars firmlyon the re" spective sides of the sounding board, and said sounding-boardis also strengthened by the presence of said bars; while the entire pullof the strings, being upon the sounding-board, the greatesteffectiveness in the matter of vibration and tone is secured.

Having thus fully described our said invention, what we claim as new,and desire to secure by Letter Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a guitar, with the sounding board, of the stringbar and bridge above said board, and a supporting bar under said board,said strings passing from the string bar under or through the under barand thence up and over the bridge, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination, in a guitar, of the sounding board A,the stringbarB,the under bar 0, and the bridge D, with the strings bearing uponsaid several bars and attached thereto, substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. The combination, in a guitar, with the sounding board, and the stringbar, and bridge, of an under bar secured to the under side of thesounding board having transverse curved grooves therein which serve asguides in inserting the string, substantially as set forth. k

4. The combination, in a guitar, of the sounding board, the string bar,an under bar 0 having transverse curved grooves therein, an upper partor bar crossing said transverse grooves, the bridge, and the stringsattached to the several parts, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, in a guitar, of the sounding board, means forattaching the ends of the strings and the bridge located above thesounding board, and a bar secured to the hands and seals, atMarion,Indiana, this 28th day of February, A. D. one thousand eighthundred and ninety five, (1895.)

LEE F. BOYD. [L. s.]

DAVID P. BOYD. [L. s]

Witnesses:

WILLIAM PAULUS, T. B. DICKEN.

